valentine's day at the judson sunday service

m and c and i spent our morning at judson church. the beliloveables were asked to dance for their valentine's sunday service. the dance lori belilove chose for them to perform was southern roses, a beautiful favorite . . and perfect for the judson's large classical space. it being valentine's day, everyone was wearing pink or red, and had heart-shaped cookies and cards to hand out . . and there were also lots of heart socks! g was at home, drafting a last minute letter for our mortgage re-financing, but managed to arrive just in time (the girls opened the service at 11 am).

dance warm-up

g

ensemble photo

the isadora duncan dance company presented a showcase in a rehearsal room at city center today. it was part of the APAP conference for NYC. everyone danced beautifully, and friends and attendees made an enthusiastic audience. beliloveable moms couldn't resist snapping group photos. looking at it now, i'm struck by how much these young girls have grown in the past few years. and the rehearsals, lately, have been copacetic with everyone working well together.

photo shoot

i was up at 5 this morning to do all the things i wanted to do before flying out the door with m and c for the subway. we managed to leave with g on his way to work and left him at 42nd street and made our way to grand central. we met everyone at the information kiosk (it's interesting that i felt happy there was still a real live person in it, and not some kind of automated mechanical being dispensing train information). we had a fun ride to tarrytown, but not such a fun photo shoot. everyone was unhappy with the photographer. his comments didn't make the dancers (or the mamas) feel comfortable. i managed to take one photo before we escaped back to the train station (helped in our getaway by a dear grandpa to one of the dancers). the beautiful lady with the strawberries assuaged hunger pangs and we happily boarded the 12:49 for manhattan.

recital at plymouth church

we traipsed out to brooklyn today for a piano recital in which the beliloveables performed. it was a beautiful performance (with a special rendition of chopin's revolutionary etude and the first movement of beethoven's pathetique by a very talented pianist!). the beliloveables danced to chopin's waltz op. 34, no. 2, and korsokov's flight of the bumblebee, bach's minuet in G, and strauss' rose from the south. (below is flight of the bumblebee).

the recital was held in the church house of plymouth church of the pilgrims on hicks and orange streets in brooklyn heights. the church was founded in 1847 with henry ward beecher as the first pastor, and was used as a stopover on the underground railroad. it's a fascinating history and you can read about it here. we ate lunch in the beecher garden and the dancers enjoyed running around in the grass. afterwards, we walked over to the esplanade. i wanted to visit pierrepont playground where i used to take the girls when they were younger, but it began to rain and we left for home.

may day celebration on mother's day

the ensemble

an ensemble of dancers after a performance at judson church in november.

staten island

we rode the ferry to staten island today and went to the alice austen house for a dance performance (exerpt below). the view of manhattan and the verrazano was breathtaking, and the breeze coming off the water felt so fresh. m. and her friend said, "it smells so good out here!" is staten island really a part of new york city? there were no coffee shops from which one could buy a cappuccino, and k. and i were craving one, but we weren't so desperate that we resorted to buying from dunkin donuts. there was a little italian trattoria, but they didn't make cappuccinos to go. to go! how gauche!
the ferry rides in the afternoon and at night were very crowded. it's been many years since i've ridden the staten island ferry, and i don't remember there being so many people!! maybe i just never rode in the summer or at rush hour? is the ferry more popular than usual with the tourists? i don't know, but my memories of riding the ferry are of hardly anyone out on deck and today i could hardly get by to take a picture. i guess i'll have to go again in the winter. and i have to add that i really miss all the state flags that used to hang along the wall of the old st. george terminal building. i wonder if they are in storage somewhere? maybe hanging in a new space? trashed?